


Family First

by bar2d2s



Category: The Flash (Comics)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-12
Updated: 2015-05-12
Packaged: 2018-03-30 05:19:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3924355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bar2d2s/pseuds/bar2d2s
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Len Snart is not a good parental figure, but he's what Axel's got, so.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Family First

It was going on midnight when Len realized that he hadn’t seen Axel all day.

Now, normally, that wouldn’t be such a bad thing. It meant the kid was working on his gadgets, or trying to not be constantly under foot. But it had been almost a whole twenty-four hours without an explosion, Axel’s irritating chainsaw laughter, or even a sighting of blue and yellow as he ran to the kitchen for a snack. His door was closed, which meant he was still in the hideout, he just…hadn’t left. Len was almost worried.

“Kid? You in there?” He called, rather than knock. No answer. “Axel? You in there?” Still no answer. Len was officially bordering on worried. “Trickster, you answer me right now, or I’m breaking down this door!” If he sounded slightly panicked, it was unintentional. There was a rustling from inside the room, and the door opened a crack.

“Yeah?” Axel’s voice was flat, and more than a little exhaused-sounding. “You want somethin’, boss?” Len nudged the crack wider, letting the meager hallway light shine on his youngest Rogue. The blonde looked awful, with dark circles under his eyes, which were bloodshot. Axel had been crying.

“Shit.” The boy recoiled at the curse, moving further back into his dark room as Len shoved the door open fully. Not quite sure where else to go, he fell onto the mattress in the farthest corner of his room, curling into a ball. “Kid, you have to talk to me. I’m not asking, I’m demanding. What’s going on?” Axel’s voice was small and muffled, his face practically melded to his pillow.

“I’m super fucking gay and my stupid boyfriend just dumped me to go play superhero and I called his phone but it was off and the next time I called this chick picked up and I don’t know what to think, I just know he’s not coming back and I’m gonna be alone forever because who the hell would even want me now?” It was a lot of information to take in a decipher but once he did, it became clear that one: Axel’s reason for never talking about his romantic and sexual conquests was pretty damn obvious in hindsight, and two: his now-ex boyfriend was the recently departed Captain Boomerang. Huh. Len sat down at the foot of the mattress, well away from Axel, and thought. What was a good leader supposed to say when faced with something like this?

“There are, uh, other fish in the sea?” Axel’s head popped out from under his arms, brow shooting for the stars. “Yeah, that was pretty dumb, huh? Look, I don’t know what to tell you. I’m not a feelings guy.” Axel snorted. “But…look, Owen left all of us. He obviously couldn’t handle being a Rogue, and if he’s already letting women answer his phone, he probably couldn’t handle his, uh, identity, either.” That got Axel to uncurl fully, stretching out. He was wearing the world’s ugliest pair of plaid pajama pants, pink and orange, with what looked like a shirt he’d filched from their collective laundry pile. Considering the size of it, it was either Evan’s, or Owen’s.

“I know. I mean, I guess. Heh, that was the first time I ever said it out loud, too.” The grin on his face made the bags look smaller, and that was a hell of an improvement. “Heya, bossman. I’m a giant homo, how about that?” Len rolled his eyes, leaning forward to shove Axel’s face back into his pillow. “Rude!”

“I’m Captain goddamn Cold, I can do what I want.” Was his only reply, getting up with a small groan. That wannabe bed was far too low to the ground for his taste. “Look, don’t lose any more sleep over him, right? He’s gone, you’re here, and if you want to  _stay_  here, I’m gonna need you in top shape for our next heist.” He paused in the doorway, trying to think up something smart to say before he went and got himself a damn beer. “There really  _are_  more fish in the sea, but since you don’t seem like the type to want to date a fish,” Another snort. “I’m sure there are plenty of guys in the cities that would be interested in you. Closer to your own age, this time." 

Before he could leave, Len found himself with a waist full of Trickster. The kid could really move, when he wanted to. "Thanks, Len.” He mumbled into Len’s sternum, letting go. “Really, thanks. I mean. For everything.” Len was about to question the ‘everything’ statement, when it hit him. Axel had come out to him. Aside from Owen, he was probably the only person that knew. And he’d just rolled with it.

“Kid, if you don’t let them twist you up like this again, I don’t care  _who_ you’re banging, so long as they make you happy.” The grin morphed into an ear-to-ear smile. “Now get some sleep. And…delete his number. It helps.” A bit of personal wisdom, and he was gone.

Shutting his door again, Axel peeled off Owen’s Knights jersey, throwing it in the opposite corner. He piled all the other little things he’d collected throughout the course of their relationship on top of it, then covered the whole shebang with a towel. He’d deal with all that tomorrow. As a last thought, he chucked his MyPhone on top of the towel. It was full of texts and pictures and videos of the two of them, and it would have to either be cleared out, or packed away and stolen anew.

Axel sighed as he lay back down on his bed. The sheets still smelled like Owen, but his pillow was new, and didn’t smell like anything yet. Talking with Len had helped, and he wasn’t so cripplingly sad anymore, but he was lonely. Horribly lonely. Almost desperately lonely. Before he fell asleep, an idea flitted across his mind.

Maybe he could talk Len into letting him get a pet.


End file.
